SEGA SHARES HIT RECORD LOW; MERGER QUESTIONED

TOKYO - (Posted Feb. 27) The price of a share in Sega Corp. on the Tokyo Stock Exchange has plunged almost 30 percent in the nine days since the announcement of merger plans by Sega and Sammy Corp., according to Reuters news agency. For a while midweek the price hit a record low of 633 yen, then rebounded to 640, still a record low closing price. By Friday Feb. 28 (Tokyo time) shares had rebounded to 671. Analysts cited Sega's recently slashed profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, but industry observers worldwide have begun to speculate whether investors may be trying to derail the proposed merger. A planned merger between Sega and Bandai two years ago was scuttled in part because Sega share prices plummeted on the news.